Eurasia

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) – A blast hit a rally promoting autonomy for Pakistan’s gas-rich Baluchistan province on Tuesday, wounding more than 20 people, while in the city of Peshawar shots were fired at U.S. consulate staff.

SOCHI, Russia (Reuters) – Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned ex-Soviet Moldova on Monday against repeating Georgia’s mistake of trying to use force to seize back control of a breakaway region.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif pulled his party out of the ruling coalition on Monday over disputes with his main partner over the judiciary and who should be the next president.

BISHKEK (Reuters) – Kyrgyzstan announced a national day of mourning for Tuesday after 65 people died at the weekend in one of the tiny Central Asian state’s worst air disasters.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s parliament will call on Monday for President Dmitry Medvedev to recognize Georgia’s breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states, according to a draft resolution seen by Reuters.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s parliament unanimously approved resolutions on Monday calling for the recognition of two rebel regions of Georgia as independent states, a move likely to worsen already strained relations with the West.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – The Pakistani Taliban have “the upper hand” and should be put on the list of banned organizations in Pakistan, said Asif Ali Zardari, who has been nominated by his party to be the country’s next president.

KARACHI (Reuters) – Gunmen in the Pakistani port city of Karachi set fire to two armored personnel carriers (APCs) bound for U.S. forces in Afghanistan, police said on Monday.

MINGORA, Pakistan (Reuters) – Militants attacked the home of a district government official in Pakistan’s Swat Valley on Monday, killing three members of his family and seven guards, police said.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) – Authorities in northwest Pakistan are urgently seeking millions of dollars to help up to 300,000 people who have fled from fighting between government forces and militants.